I turned the phone back over at Stoke, because Dougie had said Stoke, and opened the document.
It was 2 pages. The first was a letter on Bayern Munich paper, signed by a director whose name I knew from the draw in Monaco in August. The second was a number.
25 million euros for Michael Olise, rising with appearances. A sell-on. A line at the bottom about the player's education that somebody had clearly been told to put in.
I read it twice and rang Dougie.
I told him no. He had told them no at 10 to 11. He had wanted it past my eyes first, because I am the manager, and he said so in about that many words.
Would they come back? In the summer, he said, with more, and by then they would have spoken to somebody near the boy. Somebody always does.
"Tell him before a newspaper does," Dougie said, and a kettle went on at his end.
